Agadir is popular for one thing: its beach. The lovely crescent Agadir Bay runs for nine kilometres around the edge of town and is truly one of Morocco’s nicest beaches. Golden sand and a relatively sheltered bay make this an ideal place to create a beach tourist destination; indeed Agadir is Morocco’s premier beach resort.

A devastating earthquake in 1960 levelled most of Agadir so there’s very little historic evidence of old Agadir. The hilltop Kasbah is the best place in town to get an idea of what the city may have looked like before the quake. For a taste of authentic Moroccan life, you’ll need to make the short trip to nearby towns like Tiznit or Taghazout.

Most of the action in Agadir happens at the city beach. A lovely promenade runs much of its length and is lined with hotels, restaurants and shops. There are plenty of watersports, and if you need something more exotic try a camel ride or a yacht cruise along the coast. There’s even good surfing down the coast at Taghazout.

Being a total resort town, Agadir has plenty of excellent and diverse dining options. Chances are your resort or hotel will have a couple of great choices. Otherwise, head downtown and explore some of the traditional Moroccan joints that serve local dishes at great prices. Seafood is naturally a standout choice at just about every venue.

Shopping is not quite as fulfilling as the dining scene, but you can check out the local souk for a taste of Moroccan market life. The only place really worth shopping at is the artisan community of La Medina d'Agadir, where you can watch craftspeople making traditional Moroccan crafts and then buy right from the artisan.

Agadir certainly has plenty of accommodation choices, but the best ones tend to be all-inclusive beachside resorts. The rest of the midrange lodging tends to be rather dated, not great value and definitely not in a preferred location. The really cheap rooms are clustered about 20-minutes’ walking distance from the beach in Nouvelle Talborjt. Package tours are huge in Agadir, so the hotel quality tends to suffer as a result.

Nearly everyone flies directly into Agadir’s airport. Your hotel should provide transport from the airport, or you can grab the airport shuttle or a taxi. Buses and grande taxis run from distant Moroccan cities, and once in town you can walk just about everywhere. Petit taxis provide the inner-city transport, or you can rent a scooter to cruise around.

Agadir’s climate is typically Mediterranean, with hot dry conditions throughout most of the year except during the winter months when temperatures cool off a bit. Agadir’s seaside location helps temper the Moroccan heat thanks to southwest trade winds that provide a fairly reliable breeze. Its peak tourist seasons are over the winter and in the summer holidays.

Most of the precipitation in Agadir falls between September and March, which is also this seaside town’s most unpredictable season. Days can quickly change from perfect blue skies and pleasant temperatures to very windy dry conditions. December is typically when the rains begin in earnest, providing some welcome relief from the dry heat until March. Winter temperatures in Agadir average a lovely 21^oC.